Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/864

782 acknowledging the sovereignty of its Queen, is unique in the history of nations, and strikingly illustrates the adap tability of British institutions to the novel requirements of a free people. The peculiar circumstances resulting from the union of a colony formed under the fostering restraints of French ecclesiastical and civil rule with one of purely English origin, and settled in part by loyalist emigrants from the United States, begot difficulties which were more and more felt as the mother country removed from Canada one after another of the restrictions on self-government. It will form an interesting chapter in the history of Britain in relation to her colonies, to note the freedom with which, when those of British North America had, as it were, attained their majority, they were left to frame a scheme of confederation suited to their circumstances ; and when, after free deliberation, it had been matured to the satisfaction of those most directly interested in the results, the Imperial Government received it at their hands, and the British Parliament gave it the force of law. At the very period when this novel experiment in the history of colonization had been carried out to completion, and was open to the test of experience, the vice-regal duties were entrusted to the earl of DufFerin as governor-general of Canada. In the exercise of his duties he has visited many portions of the Dominion ; and towards the close of an extensive tour in the summer of 1874, he thus gave expres sion to the results of his observations : &quot; Everywhere I have learnt that the people are satisfied, satisfied with their own individual prospects, and with the prospects of their country ; satisfied with their Government, and the institutions under which they prosper ; satisfied to be the subjects of the Queen ; satisfied to be members of the British Empire. Indeed, I cannot help thinking that, quite apart from the advantage to myself, my early journeys through the provinces will have been of public benefit, as exemplifying with what spontaneous, unconcerted unani mity of language, the entire Dominion has declared.its faith in itself, in its destiny, in its connection with the mother country, and in the well-ordered freedom of a constitutional monarchy. It is this very combination of sentiments, which appears to me so wholesome and satisfactory. Words cannot express what pride I feel as an Englishman in the loyalty of Canada to England. Nevertheless I should be the first to deplore this feeling, if it rendered Canada disloyal to herself, if it either dwarfed or smothered Canadian patriotism, or generated a sickly spirit of depen dence. Such, however, is far from being the case. The legislation of the Parliament of Canada, the attitude of its statesmen, the language of its press, sufficiently show how firmly and intelligently its people are prepared to accept and apply the almost unlimited legislative faculties with which it has been endowed ; while the daily growing disposition to extinguish sectional jealousies, and to ignore an obsolete provincialism, proves how strongly the young heart of the confederated commonwealth has begun to throb with the consciousness of its national existence. At this moment not a shilling of British money finds its way to Canada; the interference of the Home Government with the domestic affairs of the Dominion has ceased ; while the imperial relations between the two countries are regulated by a spirit of such mutual deference, forbearance, and moderation, as reflects the greatest credit upon the states men of both. Yet so far from this gift of autonomy having brought about any divergence of aim or aspiration on eit. in side, every reader of our annals must be aware that the sentiments of Canada towards Great Britain are infinitely more friendly now than in those early days when tho political intercourse of the two countries was disturbed and complicated by an excessive and untoward tutelage ; that never was Canada more united than at present in sympathy of purpose, and unity of interest with the mother country, more at one with her in social habits and tone of thought, more proud of her claim to share in the heritage of England s past, more ready to accept whatever obligations may be imposed upon her by her partnership in the future fortunes of the empire.&quot;        AVIGABLE canals may perhaps be most conveniently JLN treated under two classes, Barge or Boat Canals, now in many cases almost superseded by railways and Ship Canals, which, judging from the stupendous works of this class recently executed and now in contemplation, seem as yet far from having exhausted the important aids they are destined to afford to navigation. After giving a historical notice of early canals, the following article contains a brief notice of Barge Canals ; a digest of general engineering principles applicable to the construction of all canals; an account of Ship Canals recently constructed ; and a notice of Ship Canals which have been proposed and are ere long likely to be carried into execution for facilitating ocean navigation.

From the writings of Herodotus, Aristotle, Pliny, and other ancient historians, we learn that canals existed in Egypt before the Christian era ; and there is reason to believe that at the same early period artificial inland navigation also existed in China. Almost nothing, however, save their existence has been recorded with reference to these very early works ; but soon after the commencement of the Christian era canals were introduced and gradually extended throughout Europe, particularly in Greece, Italy, Spain, &quot;Russia, Sweden, Holland, and France.

In speaking, however, of the earliest of these works, it is not to be supposed that they resembled the modern canals now constructed in our own and other countries. Early as inland navigation was introduced, it was not until the invention of canal-locks, by which boats could be transferred from one level to another, that inland navigation became generally applicable and useful, and it has been truly remarked &quot; that to us, living in an age of steam-engines and daguerreotypes, it might appear strange that an invention so simple in itself as the canal-lock, and founded on properties of fluids little recondite, should have escaped the acuteness of Egypt, Greece, and Rome.&quot; Not only, however, had the invention escaped the notice of the ancients, but what is more striking, the several gradations made towards the attainment of that simple but valuable improvement appear to have been so gradual that, like many discoveries of importance, great doubts exist as to the person and even the nation that was the first to introduce canal-locks. One class of writers attributes the discovery to the Dutch, and Messrs Telford and Niniino, who wrote the article &quot;Inland Navigation&quot; in Brewster s Edinburgh Encydopcedia, adopt the conclusion that locks were used in Holland nearly a century before their application in Italy ; while, on the other hand, the invention has been strongly and not unreasonably claimed for engineers of the Italian school, and in particular for Leonardo da Vinci, the celebrated engineer and painter. Without, however, entering into a discussion of this question, which it is now perhaps impossible to solve, we may safely state that during 